Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

J. K. Rowling

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

Chapter 2

Summary

The Dursleys are a well-to-do, status-conscious family
living in Surrey, England. Eager to keep up proper appearances,
they are embarrassed by Mrs. Dursley’s eccentric sister, Mrs. Potter,
whom for years Mrs. Dursley has pretended not to know. On his way
to work one ordinary morning, Mr. Dursley notices a cat reading
a map. He is unsettled, but tells himself that he has only imagined
it. Then, as Mr. Dursley is waiting in traffic, he notices people
dressed in brightly colored cloaks. Walking past a bakery later
that day, he overhears people talking in an excited manner about
his sister-in-law’s family, the Potters, and the Potters’ one-year-old
son, Harry. Disturbed but still not sure anything is wrong, Mr.
Dursley decides not to say anything to his wife. On the way home,
he bumps into a strangely dressed man who gleefully exclaims that
someone named “You-Know-Who” has finally gone and that even a “Muggle”
like Mr. Dursley should rejoice. Meanwhile, the news is full of
unusual reports of shooting stars and owls flying during the day.

That night, as the Dursleys are falling asleep, Albus
Dumbledore, a wizard and the head of the Hogwarts wizardry academy,
appears on their street. He shuts off all the streetlights and approaches
a cat that is soon revealed to be a woman named Professor McGonagall (who
also teaches at Hogwarts) in disguise. They discuss the disappearance
of You-Know-Who, otherwise known as Voldemort. Dumbledore tells
McGonagall that Voldemort killed the Potter parents the previous
night and tried to kill their son, Harry, as well, but was unable
to. Dumbledore adds that Voldemort’s power apparently began to wane
after his failed attempt to kill Harry and that he retreated. Dumbledore
adds that the baby Harry can be left on the Dursleys’ doorstep.
McGonagall protests that Harry cannot be brought up by the Dursleys.
But Dumbledore insists that there is no one else to take care of
the child. He says that when Harry is old enough, he will be told
of his fate. A giant named Hagrid, who is carrying a bundle of blankets
with the baby Harry inside, then falls out of the sky on a motorcycle.
Dumbledore takes Harry and places him on the Dursley’s doorstep
with an explanatory letter he has written to the Dursleys, and the
three part ways.

Analysis

From the outset, Rowling creates a great buzz about the
protagonist of the story, Harry Potter, both for the other characters
in the story and for us, the readers. She does not explain Harry’s
importance but simply shows how his existence affects the world.
Mr. Dursley, for example, encounters all sorts of unusual occurrences—a
cat reading a map, people walking around in cloaks, the giddy mention
of the departure of someone called You-Know-Who. These omens create
a potent aura of mystery around Harry. Additionally, though we do not
yet understand why Harry is special, we see that he is destined
to play an important role. Rowling situates him in opposition to
the powerful and feared Voldemort, and it becomes clear that these
two figures will probably confront each other at some point in a
climactic battle.

The contrast that Rowling establishes between day and
night prefigures the more important contrast between the story’s
ordinary world and its wizard world. Mr. Dursley, who walks around
during the day, epitomizes the boredom and dullness of everyday
life, while Albus Dumbledore, who slinks around at night, epitomizes
the fantasy and mystery of wizardry. His act of magically putting
out all the streetlights near the Dursleys’ house creates a separation
between these two realms. Professor McGonagall’s ability to take
the shape of both a cat and a human illustrates the difference between
wizards, who have magic at their disposal, and Muggles, who do not. But
Rowling soon shows us a much greater separation—a geographical one—between
these two realms, carrying us eventually from an ordinary English
town into the magical places that wizards frequent.

This first chapter introduces a number of elements important
to the story without explaining them, stirring our curiosity and emphasizing
the idea of this mysterious other world that is far away from everyday
reality. The word “Muggle,” for example, is used repeatedly, and
though we hear it referred to humans, we do not fully understand
its associations. However, even though the meaning of the word escapes
us, we feel the importance of the distinction between Muggles and
non-Muggles. Similarly, we feel that there is something meaningful
about Harry’s lightning-bolt forehead scar, though we cannot explain
it any more than Harry can. Like Harry, we are forced to accept
a lot of information we cannot process at first, so that we are
humbled before the complexity of the wizards’ world. It is important
that Harry’s initiation into magic is gradual so that we can identify
with what he is feeling; like us, Harry is entering an unknown world.

If you have not seen Harry Potter movies. YOU SHOULD!! Seeing these movies gives you a good idea of whats happening and while your are reading you can see and imagine all that happens clearer. To those who do not like to read, (Why?!?!?!) look at the movies they give out very important info and all the answers to your reports in 2 hours!! For those WHO DO READ!!, enjoy the book and have FUN!

I think the rule breaking can be interpreted as Harry not being perfect however he is making the choice to do a bad thing for a good reason. I think a common theme throughout the books is that there is no purely good and purely evil, it is not our inherent characteristic, however it is our choices, this is demonstrated with Dumbledore, James Potter and Snape. In contrast, bad decisions are represented by Malfoy and Wormtail.